Day 11 (7/9). (Lin) Up early and on the road after a shorter night and big breakfast in Sheridan, Wyoming. It was dark when we arrived at midnight last night, so we woke up to a nice view of the mountains looming to the south and east. We chose to take Rt. 14 through the Bighorn National Forest to Yellowstone (instead of 90), and it turned out to be totally amazing. Climbing up through the mountains was so beautiful, and then on the backside we descended slowly through gorgeous rugged passes and valleys. Even afterward, the mountains were constantly in the distance, with more rugged bluffs a bit closer. Cody was a surprisingly large town, and seemingly bustling and fun, nestled in the mountains. It is really the last large-ish town before Yellowstone when approaching from the east.
Climbing into Yellowstone was also amazing. Ascending up to Sylvan Pass, there was, rather inexplicably, a bison trudging uphill in the middle of the road. I’m not sure how it got on the narrow mountain highway (with a sheer rock wall on one side and a guardrail on the other), but there it was (pic below). There is still snow on some of the higher mountains (including the Tetons, which we saw way in the distance at one point). We stopped to frolic a bit at Yellowstone Lake after descending from Sylvan Pass. Since the weather was lovely, we headed straight for the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone to see the upper and lower falls. They didn’t disappoint! Eden, Elliot, Helena, and I also hiked down Uncle Tom’s trail, which involved a steep and precarious descent of 350+ steps to a little outlook close to the lower falls (the larger of the two). Artist’s Point was also very nice, although more crowded.
From there we decided to drive through Lamar Valley, where wildlife abounds. We saw so many bison that, frankly,after a while we hardly stopped unless one (or 50!) were crossing the road, which happened several times. In addition to bison, we saw pronghorn deer, pelicans, and various birds. Oh, and BEARS! That was outside of Lamar Valley, on the way back. A mama bear and her cubs were grazing and hanging out right on the side of the road. Really lovely. But no wolves, as Jo wanted. We did manage to reach Montana, however, by driving almost the whole way out to the northeast entrance! That made Helena happy (since Helena is the capital of Montana). Hilariously, we were not the only ones – a whole line of cars turned around almost immediately after crossing over into Montana! I think that makes 28 states we will hit on this trip.
The drive back from Lamar Valley was really lovely in the soft late evening glow. At one point a thunderstorm moved through, which created a full double rainbow (a bit faint, but pic below). And then later a sudden hailstorm hit, too. A little nuts. Tonight we are in the Canyon Lodge, were there is no internet (except for up the hill in the main lodge), so this will be posted sometime in the future.
Our overall impressions of Yellowstone so far: 1) it is huge (takes really long to drive everywhere!); 2) it has super diverse terrains and topographies (and changes between them quickly); 3) it is stunningly beautiful. Overall, the crowds have not been crazy, even with it being the 100th anniversary of the National Parks System, and with Yellowstone being the most popular of them all (and in peak season).
Note: if you click on individual pictures, it pulls up a larger version of it (can see them all in a slideshow).
Fisher Family Travels 
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